


The tortoise shell cat

by pumuckl91



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 14:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6198262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumuckl91/pseuds/pumuckl91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor thinks back to some of the lonliest moments in his long life he remebers a cat being there with him, during this and his last reincarnation. A small, very cuddly tortoise shell cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 73rd century, earth

Although humans in the 73rd century are used to live with aliens next door, most of them are still not too fond of the idea that their own offspring could develop non-human traits.

That's why, on the 8th of July 7219, a young man holding a new-born girl – his daughter- in his arms, runs out of a hospital and drives to a nearby river. This young girl was just born to his wife and mere minutes after her birth changed into a cat, she was a shapeshifter, a mutant. Unlucky for this little girl, humans from the 73rd century didn't like mutants, they weren't welcome. Most parents made sure to have their unborn children's DNA checked for any mutations so they could abort them in a very early state of the pregnancy.

This couple couldn't afford these DNA tests. Therefore, when they discovered their child was a mutant, the young man promised his wife to "take care of it". He didn't care that the law considered mutants humans, he was going to give his daughter into the waves of the river. She was only five hours old, when her father stepped out of the car, went down to the river and threw a bundle of child and towels into the river. He quickly turned around and went back to his car, being both sad and disappointed. But because he turned so quickly and didn't look back at the spot where he had just signed the fate of his new-born daughter, he did not see the bright golden light erupting from the river. And he didn't hear an ethereal female voice whisper

"I am the Bad Wolf, I create myself, I bring life."

That was the day Lia was born, murdered and saved.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANd the second chapter, visiting Rose and the Doctor.

The TARDIS needed to refill in Cardiff. And of course it was night and Rose was fast asleep which let the Doctor to wander around the dark and sleepy Cardiff. He hated it when the TARDIS needed to refill while his companions were sleeping, it was just too boring to wait on his own. He decided to take a walk around the docks, at least his feet would have something to do.

After three hours of aimless wandering, the sun started to rise and Cardiff became alive. The Doctor decided it was time for Rose to wake up so they could have breakfast.  
When he came back to the TARDIS, arms filled with bags of donuts and two steaming cups of coffee, he saw a tortoise shell cat fawning around the TARDIS and rubbing her cheek at the edges. This incarnation always had a soft spot for cats, so he sat down the bags and crouched in front of the cat, offering his hand for her to sniff. She carefully approached him, sniffed his hand and rubbed her chin against his hand. A smile sneaked up to his face and he was so indulging the smooth fur of the cat that he didn’t notice the TARDIS’ door opening. Rose stood in the doorway and watched him. She was concentrating really hard not to give herself away through giggling. There he was, her dark and brooding time lord, crouching in front of a cat, happily petting it while their coffee – she assumed that’s what’s in the cups – was getting cold.  
Rose leaned against the door frame taking in the peaceful view. She seldom had the chance to simply watch him, therefore she wanted to savour each of those possibilities.

After a few moments – Rose was sure that the coffee was cold by now – the cat looked at Rose, looked her directly in the eye, made a low meowing sound and ran away. The Doctor stood up and looked at Rose, puzzled “Well, seems like she didn’t like you. What a pity, I was wondering what you thought about a pet on the TARDIS!” He picked up the bags and the coffee and stepped inside. Rose looked at him stunned “You wanted to adopt a cat? Wouldn’t that be ‘domestic’? And how did you know it was a she?” While talking, the two had crossed the console room and entered the kitchen. The Doctor stopped at the counter, put down the coffee and started to take donuts out of the bags. “She was a tortoise shell, only female cats can be tricoloured. And I didn’t consider having a cat on board ‘domestic’. Cats are free spirits and everything but domestic... And I like cats.” He added after a short break. Rose smiled at him and sat down to finally have breakfast.

While the TARDIS inhabitants were discussing cats over their breakfast a young red-haired woman stood across the plaza marvelling at the sight of the bright blue police box. She didn’t expect to find the Doctor, or Rose for that matter, in Cardiff when she arrived here. But she was happy she did, now she knew how the presence of both the time lord and his ship felt in her mind. It would be a lot easier to find them at the right points in their timeline now. With that thought she stepped back into the shadow and opened her father’s vortex manipulator.


	3. 31st century, earth, Inverness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third chapter, introducing Lia's adoptive parents

It was a sunny and warm evening, one of the rare ones you will experience in Scotland, especially in late September.

  
Jack Harkness was sitting in the living room, reading a book about an adventurer who awfully reminded him of a certain madman with a blue box. Thinking of that specific alien made him think about his fiancée, the daughter of said alien. Jack wondered when they would finally find her father, for she wanted to wait with the wedding until he would be part of it. Well, he had all the time in the universe and if Jenny wanted it wait until they found her father he wouldn’t deny her that wish. Suddenly he was pulled out of his thoughts by a blinding golden light which came from the front door. He stood up instantly.

That light! It painfully reminded him of the day he started to live again, a life that would never stop. He took his gun from the table and carefully approached the front door. Jack slowly opened the door a crack and peaked outside. He was taken aback by the sight of what was in front of his door. There was a baby lying on his doorstep! A faintly golden glowing baby! Oh, and there was an envelope, a bright golden envelop which lay right on top of the baby. He reached for the envelope when he heard the wheels of Jenny’s SUV pull up their driveway. When she saw him standing in the doorway, hovering over an infant she sprinted out of the car.

“What is that? What is a bay doing on our doorstep?”

She looked at his right hand “And what’s with the gun? Was the baby threatening you?” She giggled. Jack gave her a rather confused look.

“Right, maybe we should talk about this inside. I don’t think that she is going to eat us. She appeared in a flash of golden light.” Jack looked at Jenny pointedly. He picked the baby up and carried her inside. Jenny followed suit.

10 minutes later Jack and Jenny sat silently at the kitchen table, a cuppa in front of each of them and a peacefully sleeping baby next to them. Jenny was confused to say the least. She had read the letter three times now but still wasn’t sure if she got it right.

“Dear Jack, dear Jenny,

this little girl was about to be killed by her father in 7219 because she is a mutant. She is a shapeshifter. I saved her because I saw how great her future could be. The people in her time are really resistant in their efforts to get rid of all mutants. I needed someone to take care of her and make sure she has a chance to grow up to be the great woman I saw her be. You two were the first ones coming to my mind.

She is only a few hours old and her father drowned her before I saved her. She isn’t alien, but neither is she a normal girl. Rather ‘human plus’ or ‘human with something more’, just like Rose. She is not only able to change her form, she is also slightly telepathic, a bit stronger and faster than the average human and heals a lot faster than normal. That’s all I know so far, although she might develop some side-effects from being rescued by time itself.

Every few years she will understand more of what she is and how she became what she is. On her 18th birthday she’ll be unconscious for some hours. Afterwards she will know why I saved her and parts of what the future holds for her.

Jack, she will also know how to fix your vortex manipulator permanently and 100%. You must teach her how to use it. More important you have to teach her all about the rules of time travel! I cannot tell you why, but you will know when the time has come. It’s just too dangerous to tell you too much about your future.

Jenny, I know you never met me but I’m sure Jack mentioned me once or twice.”

Jenny couldn’t help but giggle.

”…If my plan works out, and my plans usually do, we will meet in a couple of years. As the girl is slightly telepathic, I need you to help her develop this abilities. Moreover you need to teach her how to hide her presence from other telepathic beings, especially from time lords!

I’m so sorry I cannot tell both of you more about that girl and your/her future. I just hope that you will take her in your home and raise her as if she was your own daughter.

I’m looking forward to seeing the both of you in the future!

Love,

                Bad Wolf

P.S.: Oh, and don’t be afraid, the Doctor will be happy for you once he’s over the initial shock. And Jenny you will look astonishing on your wedding day ;) .”

Jenny couldn’t really believe all this, although her being the artificial daughter of a time lord should make it easier for her to grasp all that timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly stuff.

“Well, we should probably get some diapers, a bed for her, some food…” As always Jack thought of the practical things to do. Jenny interrupted him “So we are keeping her? Just like that?” It wasn’t that she didn’t like the thought of taking that poor little girl in. She was more surprised that Jack didn’t object to it. “Of course we are! For one she is just a little innocent girl who needs protection, and I would never turn down any innocent being who needs my help. And second, if Rose, or Bad Wolf, thought we were the best chance for the little one I’m determined to be exactly that!” The he added with a wink “And it’ll be great practise for the future.” Jenny almost choked on her tea. They had never talked about having children before, but when she looked at the small girl who peacefully slept in her carrier she thought she might get used to the idea of having children. Nevertheless something still bothering her. “We should give her a name!” Calling her ‘the little girl’ won’t do.” Jack frowned and thought about it. “What do you think about Cornelia? Lia for short? Oh, and should we call her Harkness or Smith? I think Lia Harkness sounds better than Lia Smith.” He stuck his tongue out at her. Jenny smiled “I like Lia. And I also think she should have your surname, then she won’t need to get used to another one after the wedding.” A huge smile appeared on Jack’s face. The new parents looked fondly at the baby.

“Welcome to your new life Lia Harkness!”


	4. The tortoise shell cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the next chapter. Since I've already got the first 4 typed I can upload them quite fast. You might need to wait a bit longer for the next ones ;)

The Doctor stood in front of the white wall. The white wall which just mere seconds ago almost swallowed Rose, his Rose…But she was save, save in a parallel universe with her family. Her parallel father did, what HE wasn’t able to do, save her from falling into the void.

His shoulders slumped and he gave the white wall, which now separated him from Rose, one last look, turned around and walked back to the TARDIS. Once inside he leaned against the closed doors and listened to his beautiful ship mourning. The Doctor stroke the coral next to him! I know… It feels so empty without her…” He slid down the door and put his head in his hands. What happened next was something one normally didn’t see the last of the time lords do: He started crying.

He didn’t know what to do, he just lost the love of his life – yes, he knew he loved her, although he never allowed himself to show it to her – and there was nothing he could do to get her back. He didn’t even get the chance to say good bye! He banged his head against the door he was leaning at.

That’s when he heard a faint screeching noise on the outside of the TARDIS doors. He jumped up and stared at the door. The TARDIS was cloaked with a perception filter! Nobody should be able to see it, not to mention scraping on her doors! He ran to the scanner to have a look at who or what was in front of the TARDIS. Unfortunately the scanner stayed black and didn’t show him what he wanted to see. He gave the TARDIS a glare

“I’m really not in the mood for your games right now! I wanna know what’s outside that door and whether I need to deal with it or not!” He shouted angrily. The TARDIS hummed both offended and compassionate, only Rassilon knows how she’s able to express those feelings together. She showed the Doctor the picture of a small tortoise shell cat who was passionately cuddling up to the TARDIS. The Doctor looked at that with shock in his eyes. He had never seen any animal cuddle with his spaceship. Albeit he knew that animals were able to see her most of the time despite the perception filter. Somehow he thought he knew that cat, it was definitely not the first time he saw it. Oh great! Now he was getting paranoid about a cat! He had just decided to stop thinking about that cat and put the TARDIS into the Vortex when suddenly the doors opened on their own.

“What?!” He screamed. “Why do you want to have that cat on board? I want to be alone!”

He glared at the time rotor. The TARDIS sent him a wave of compassion, strong loneliness and shortly afterwards the feeling one gets when you’re sitting in front of a roaring fireplace on a cold winter night – cosiness.

“So you want to tell me that I shouldn’t be alone? Well, I don’t care! I just lost Rose and no one can or will ever replace her!” It was very quiet for a very long moment and then the Doctor’s mind was flooded with images and feelings; Rose inside the TARDIS stroking the corals, Rose talking to her, acknowledging that the ship was a sentient being, the feeling of liveliness on the ship, laughter and deep and real happiness.

All of a sudden those great images and happy feelings changed into pictures of an empty kitchen with a lonely pink mug in the sink, the lonely and quiet console room, a ship without laughter, without playful and happy banter – a TARDIS without Rose. The Doctor was stunned, he just stared at the console in agony.

“Oh dear, I’m so, so sorry! I…I…I just never thought about how you must be feeling about losing her.” He stroke the console and then looked towards the still open doors in which a cat was sitting patiently.

“Ok, if you want some cat company, we’ll take her on board.” A strong feeling of thankfulness, and strangely hope, washed over the Doctor. He shook his head and decided to forget about the latter for now. Turning towards the cat he said: „Well then, welcome on board, cat!” The cat meowed and jumped on the jump seat, right next to the jacket Rose had left there. He shut his eyes and quickly turned to the console to send them into the Vortex.

He didn’t see the eyes of the cat behind him gleam golden.

Once they were safely in the Vortex he turned around again and faced the cat. “So cat, here are a few rules for your time here on the TARDIS. Number one: Don’t wander off! You might get lost! B: Don’t ever think of killing any of the mice or birds in the gardens! Three or C, whatever you prefer: Don’t eat my bananas!”

He was about to leave the console room when he stopped again. “Oh, and I think you need a name, can’t keep calling you ‘cat’, can I? Any preferences? You know, I do speak cat.” The cat sat up on the jump seat and looked him in the eyes. A sudden feeling of carefully sent thankfulness and appreciation knocked at his mind’s walls. The Doctor was really surprised.

“Oh! You’re a telepathic cat! That’s rare on earth! Are you even from earth?” The cat jumped on the console and three letters appeared on the screen. L – I – A, she sent him a picture of herself. “So your name is Lia?” He felt a strong feeling of agreement from her. “Ok then. Hello Lia! I’m the Doctor and that is my ship, the TARDIS, it stands for Time And…” “…Relative Dimensions In Space” the words suddenly appeared on the monitor of the console and Lia winked at him.

“Well, good to know you two already got to know each other. But when exactly did that happen? And why do I have the feeling that I have seen you before? I hate being left out!” He wasn’t happy at all with how his ship behaved. Lia sent him an image of him petting her head and then looked at him, waiting. The Doctor went over to her and stroke the back of her head. When his hand touched her he was overwhelmed with memories of all the times when he had met her before.

In Cardiff during a refill stop when he was in his last regeneration, she had been the cat he picked up and told about his companions who always wandered off.

She had pushed him towards Rose and sent him pictures of them dancing when Jack wanted to dance with her.

She had more or less forced him to go back and ask Rose to accompany him a second time.

He always wondered why the TARDIS decided to bring him to earth once he finished regenerating after the war. Now he knew why; he saw a tortoise shell cat outside the TARDIS, doing what seemed like talking and then he saw the controls inside change their direction towards earth.

The most recent memory was of her in 18th century France. She had shown him the way to the fireplace so he could get back to Rose and Mickey.

How on Gallifrey did a simple cat manage to be both in 21st century UK and in 18th century France? And how did she manage to get on board the TARDIS? Oh well, the answer to the second question was easy, the TARDIS wanted her to and probably opened her doors for her. But what about the obvious time travel? And why had his memories of this been suppressed? He looked at Lia, waiting for answers. But the only answer he got was a double feeling of patience washing over him sent both from the TARDIS and the cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a question for you.
> 
> What do you think about the adventures the Doctor experienced? Should I rewrite them completely with Lia insiode or should I just briefly recap them and focus on the Doctor and Lia and Bad Wolf/Rose?


	5. Lia's 6th birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to thor in a chapter about Lia's childhood with our favourite "human" fixed point in time and our favourite generated anomaly ;)

On her 6th birthday Lia Harkness woke up at 5 in the morning and tiptoed downstairs as quietly as possible. Her dad had been teaching her how to move without making any noise, which had been really helpful while playing hide-and-seek in kindergarten.

She went into the kitchen and was actually surprised not to find her mum in there. Being a time lady she didn’t need much sleep and was up before the sun every morning. Lia shrugged her shoulders and started making pancakes. She knew it was her birthday but it was also a Sunday and that was her day of the week to make breakfast. Just a few months ago her parents had finally allowed her to cook on her own. Yes, she was only 5 ½ back then and maybe not tall enough to reach the top shelves, but hey! Why be a shape shifter if you don’t use your abilities to change into a bird and grab everything you need from the top shelves.

She had experienced her shapeshifting abilities when she was only one year old, but it took her almost four years to control the few forms she used now. Every time she wanted to try a new form her parents told her she had to wait. But she was ok with it most of the time. Her parents gave her a lot of freedom, so she wouldn’t make them angry by not obeying the few rules they had.

After half an hour (it still took her longer to make breakfast than it took her parents) the delicious smell of homemade banana-pancakes filled the spacious kitchen. Lia made sure to have enough syrup on the table, as her dad loved it with his pancakes and then opened the kitchen door to call her parents down.

While she waited for her parents to come downstairs she noticed a bright golden light in the garden. That was rather unusual, although it was autumn and the sunlight might appear golden from time to time it didn’t do that at half past five in the morning – before the sun rose! Lia stepped outside carefully to have a look at the source of the beautiful light. A woman was sitting on the swings in the backyard. She was emitting the light to which Lia was magically drawn towards.

“Happy birthday, Lia!” The woman waved and signalled her to sit down on the second swing.

“Thank you.” Lia moved towards the woman who seemed oddly familiar to her. “Who are you? I feel like I have seen you before.”

“That’s because you have, but you forgot about it afterwards. I visit you every few years on your birthday and check if everything’s alright. So, how are you doing, Lia?”

Lia sat down next to the glowing lady. “I’m doing fine, I guess. I like going to school, but I don’t like that I’m not allowed to shapeshift there. It could be sooo helpful sometimes! Mum explained that the other kids cannot shapeshift like I can, it would be unfair to do it then.”

The lady chuckled and Lia continued: “Here at home I can change whenever I want, but I can only be three animals: a cat, a robin and a frog. Mum and dad always tell me I have to wait until I can try a new form…”

“What other forms would you like to try?” Lia put her head in her hands and thought very hard.

“Oh, that’s not that easy. I would love to be able to change into a horse, an eagle, a lizard, a dog, a fox,…” The laugh of the beautiful woman stopped Lia in her listing.

“Ok, ok, so basically you want to change into everything. It’s a bit early for that now. I will add two new forms to your repertoire as a birthday present.” She winked at Lia. “I think dog and lizard will be perfect for a 6th birthday. Unfortunately I need to go now, I hope you have a really nice day, Lia!” She got up and went towards the gate.

“Oh, and Lia, please tell your mum it’s time to get started. She’ll know what that means. Bye! See you in a few years!” She waved good bye and closed the gate behind her. Lia stayed in the garden for a few more minutes and thought about the strange woman until she decided to go inside and deliver that message to her mum.


	6. Jack Harkness and Jenny Smith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you told me that you would like to read more about Jenny/Jacvk and how Lia grew up, so I decided to throw in a short chapter about the Harkness-Smith household.
> 
> Afterwards I will probably continue posting what I've already written (but not typed yet...). I just finished chapter 7! Can you believe that? This fanfiction is the first longer thing I wrote since one attempt on book writing almost 10 years ago (I was 14 and never finished it).

Inverness wasn’t the largest town in Scotland, although there was a fair amount of tourists coming and going every year it was a quiet place to live most of the time.

The cottage that Jack and Jenny bought after they left Torchwood (in the very capable handy of Gwen’s, Rhy’s, Martha’s and Mickey’s great-great-grandchildren) stood a few miles outside of the town. What had been very important for their decision to buy it had been the fact that it was extremely close to the newly opened rift outside of Inverness. This rift was a lot quieter than the one in Cardiff. That didn’t mean that life in the Harkness-Smith household was boring. There was a lot more space junk coming through this rift. Space junk they were trying to use for building a space ship. Jenny still hoped that she would find her dad one day, but she didn’t want to wait until then to explore the universe and all its adventures.

Jack knew that there could be times in which one wouldn’t see the Doctor for decades or even centuries. He was pretty sure that they'll meet again though. After all the three of them were the only people who would survive everyone else in this planet, in this universe even. They were bound to meet each other one way or the other. Jack just hoped that they wouldn’t meet one of the regenerations before he went to Messaline and accidentally became a father.

Sometimes Jack wondered why the TARDIS didn’t pick up on the only other time lord DNA in this universe and brought him here. This question bothered him so much that one evening he asked Jenny whether she ever thought about it. They were sitting in their living room, each one of them with a book and a glass of red wine. In front of them a fire was blazing in the fireplace.

They lived in the 31st century but they still enjoyed some of the old ways to have fun. Jack broke the companionable silence:

“Sometimes I wonder why the TARDIS won’t just bring him here. She must be able to detect your DNA, even if he’s not telling her to look for other time lord DNA. Do you think she has a reason for not telling him?

Jenny looked up from her book about potato recipes from the 58th century, she took a sip from her glass and stared in the blazing fire for a few moments.

“I don’t know him or the TARDIS as well as you do, so I’m not sure if I could contribute anything useful to that idea. But from everything I heard about both of them I could imagine that he forbid her to look for any DNA similar to time lords, although she would probably do it anyways.” She stopped and looked into the fire again.

“You might be right, maybe there is a bigger picture behind that which we just can’t see right now. Still, I believe that I’ll meet him some day!” Jack put his arm around her, put his chin on top of her head and whispered into her blond her: “I really hope so.”

That was the evening before Jack found a baby from the future on their doorstep.


	7. Living with the Doctor - Lia's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How is living with the Doctor for our shapeshifter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the late and irregular updates. Once all my exams are over (end of June) there will be more updates. I promise!

During the first weeks it had been difficult for Lia to adjust to living with the Doctor.

From what she heard in the stories of her parents he was a cheerful man full of life,   
at least most of the time. But now, after he lost Rose, he was anything but cheerful   
or full of life. He wouldn’t have eaten or drunk anything in days if the TARDIS and   
Lia hadn’t joined forces and basically forced him to eat and drink once in a while.

In her second week on the TARDIS Lia discovered one of the gardens. It was a beautiful   
and peaceful place but the Doctor never came here. The TARDIS told her that the garden   
hold too many painful memories for him to ever come here. Therefore Lia decided to   
make this garden her refuge. It was the only place where she allowed herself to change   
her form and try new ones.

During her fourth week, Lia was just enjoying a swim in the pond, when the garden   
was suddenly bathed in a bright golden light. She got out of the pond as quickly as she   
could and walked towards the young woman, as always the source of the light.

“Hello Lia! I’m happy to see that you settled in and that the Doctor is getting used to   
having a cat on board.” She winked.

“Unfortunately I cannot stay long, I don’t know how long the TARDIS can hide my   
presence from him. Lia, I need you to help him say good bye to Rose! You need to convince   
him that he can send a holograph of himself into the parallel world if he can find a small   
breach in the wall between the universes. One of those breaches is in Norway, on a beach   
called ‘Bad Wolf Bay’. You must help him say good bye!” She looked at Lia with glaring eyes.

“Dou you understand?” Lia began to feel unwell by the intense stare of the golden eyes.

“Yes, I do. Why is it so important? And why can’t he know that you’re here?”

“If he doesn’t send Rose that holograph, she’ll never try to get through the walls   
and if she doesn’t do that then all this was for nothing! I need to go now, good luck Lia!   
If everything works out we’ll never have to meet in secret and in this form again.” With   
that she disappeared in a golden bean and left a pretty confused Lia behind.

After a few moments she caught herself, changed back into her tricoloured cat form   
and looked up at the ceiling – which was disguised as a blue sky.

“Ok old girl, let’s give our time lord the chance to say good bye to his Rose!”

The TARDIS hummed very excited.

**Author's Note:**

> That's my first fanfiction ever, so please be nice ;)  
> I might be studying English for some time now, but I'm not a native speaker! So please tell me about any major mistakes in the story, I'll be more then happy to correct them!


End file.
